Psm 41 v 1 Dignify those who are down on their luck; your feel good, thats what God does.
5 years ago, we saw first hand the depressing aftermath of the floods here in Carlisle. 1 in 4 had no insurance. I sat in the comfort of my home yesterday morning, enjoying the warmth and peace. I said to Kathy, “I cannot sit here and just go off to church and 25 miles away, people are going through the turmoil of devastation of loosing their homes, businesses and community.
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We got in the car and drove on out there. Several times the police diverted us as bridges had been swept away. What can we do, how can we help, we thought? One of the many comforts to us during the last 3 months has been those who have naturally practiced Rom 12 v 15 “Weep with those who weep”. We went there to just “Look and Listen” to both God and Man. I thought one practical way would be for us to see who needed help to remove all the damaged articles in their house, clear all the mud etc and gather a team from work and church and go down during the week.
The main part of town was closed. Many properties have structural damage. You could see the town was having a break for a few hours between the hitting of the storm and the analysis of damage. We saw volunteers in bright luminous jackets that said “Churches together in Cockermouth”, diverting traffic. They pointed us to a church hall 1 street up from the closed off town. As we walked in to volunteer in what ever way they needed, we were amazed to be welcomed by Rev Wendy Saunders, our friend from the Anglican Church here in Carlisle. She is the pastor there now. They were offering food and hot drinks to all. Loading up shopping trolleys with tea and coffee and going out to all the emergency service personnel. We watched with humble hearts as we saw Wendy and her team be the Hands and Feet of Jesus. We stayed and talked with families and individuals.
We remembered being in Russia when only weeks before the Berlin Wall came down and seeing Hare Christa people on the streets. Here in Cockermouth it was volunteers from Edinburgh from the Scientology Church. Wow how wonderful they had driven over 100 miles to help.
As Kathy and I later took a walk around the edge of the town on the hill and prayed, looked and listened. We realised again several points;
- God’s people working together can have an awesome impact in acts of kindness and showing grace by meeting peoples basic needs.
- It is not always most effective for outsiders to come in and give direct help. It may be better to support those who are already helping. This gives natural opportunity for the leadership of the local community to build relationships.
- In a Kingdom of Heaven reality we see good and bad happening. Darkness has a very subtle way of disguising its self as light and getting foot holds into situations. As Christians we need to “look with spiritual eyes” and see what is happening.
- We left Cockermouth with a heart to pray and realised that may be our part.
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